The Scientific American Boy eBook

held by nailing the lower tie piece to the working
platform. Four stout spars were now cut, each
about fifteen feet long. Taking a pair at a time,
we planted their lower ends firmly in the opposite
banks and sawed off their upper ends until they could
just be hammered into the notches in the king post.
This required careful fitting, but by making the spars
a little too long to start with, and then shaving them
down with a draw-knife, we managed to make fairly
good joints. A couple of long wire nails in each
spar made the structure perfectly secure. The
king posts were now sawed off just above the temporary
tie piece, and the permanent cross beam was fastened
to these ends with straps of heavy wire wound tightly
about them. The working platform sagged so much
that we were able to lay this cross beam above it.
From the ends of the cross beam diagonal braces extended
to the king posts (Fig. 103). Our working platform
was now removed and replaced with the permanent floor
beams, which were firmly nailed to the center cross
beam and to the inclined spars at the shore ends.
The floor beams were quite heavy and needed no support
between the king posts and shore. A rustic floor
was made of small logs sawed in two at Mr. Schreiner’s
sawmill. Light poles were nailed to the flooring
along each edge, giving a finish to the bridge.
We also provided a rustic railing for the bridge of
light poles nailed to the king posts and the diagonal
spars.

CHAPTER X.

Canvas Canoes.

Like all inhabitants of islands, we early turned our
attention to navigation. Our scow was serviceable
for transporting materials back and forth across the
strips of shallow water between our quarters and the
Jersey shore. We never attempted to row across,
because progress would have been entirely too slow,
and we would have drifted down to the rapids long
ere we could reach the opposite side. But on Lake
Placid matters were different. Although there
was no settlement near us on the Pennsylvania shore,
to occasion our crossing the water for provisions and
the like, yet the quiet stretch was admirably suited
to boating for pleasure, and mighty little pleasure
could we get out of our heavy scow.

Uncle Ed’s Departure.

Owing to a sudden business call Uncle Ed left us after
he had been with us nearly three weeks. But,
before going, he explained carefully to Bill just
how to construct a canvas canoe. Jack, the cook,
who was anxious to lay in a second supply of provisions,
accompanied Uncle Ed as far as Millville, the next
town below Lamington. Here Uncle Ed bought five
yards of canvas, 42 inches wide, several cans of paint
and a quantity of brass and copper nails and tacks.
These supplies, together with the food provisions that
Jack had collected, were brought to us late in the
afternoon by Mr. Schreiner. Mr. Schreiner also
brought the necessary boards and strips of wood for
the framework of our canoe.